Six veteran faculty researchers have sharpened their mentoring skills this semester, with participants in the next Division of Research and Innovation Partnership’s STARS Academy standing to benefit.
The veteran researchers—who will mentor STARS Academy faculty next fall—participated in four Entering Mentoring professional-learning conversations facilitated by Andrea Radasanu and Emily Reilly of the Office of Student Engagement and Experiential Learning (OSEEL).
Andrea Radasanu
With encouragement and support from Academic Affairs, both Radasanu and Reilly were trained last summer to become Entering Mentoring facilitators by the national Center for the Improvement of Mentored Experiences in Research (CIMER). The organization provides training and resources for effective mentoring relationships, and Entering Mentoring is specifically designed for mentors of research trainees.
“All of our OSEEL programs depend on good mentoring,” said Radasanu, assistant vice provost for Student Enhancement. “Tapping into CIMER’s expertise in this area is a good way to promote a culture of positive and effective mentorship at NIU. Emily and I then wanted to deliver this training to a group of willing faculty, and the STARS mentors had a specific interest in this.”
STARS mentors who participated in the training were Psychology Professors Angela Grippo and Leslie Matuszewich; Biological Sciences Professor Wes Swingley; Public Health Professors Courtney Hughes and Tomoyuki Shibata; and Public Administration Professor Thomas Skuzinski, who also serves as director of the Institute of the Environment, Sustainability, and Energy. While not a STARS mentor, Linh Nguyen of the Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning also participated.
Emily Reilly
Radasanu said she and Reilly hope to bring the Entering Mentoring curricula to other interested faculty groups, and potentially to graduate students, to embed mentoring reflection and goals into the university’s culture. Goals of the program include helping participants articulate their mentoring philosophies and plans and helping them foster independence in mentees.
High quality mentored research experiences have been linked to enhanced research identity, sense of belonging and self-efficacy; persistence; research productivity; higher career satisfaction; and enhanced recruitment of under-represented mentees.
“We also want Entering Mentoring participants to learn about other mentors on campus and begin building their own community,” said Reilly, OSEEL’s associate director.
Participants in the training think it will be helpful as they work with the STARS Academy, which has a new cohort of faculty each year. The academy’s series of workshops position faculty researchers for funding through empowerment with the tools and networking needed to self-direct professional development and steer a career. Mentoring is a key aspect of the program.
“Entering Mentoring training was very valuable, and I would highly recommend it to staff and faculty at multiple levels,” Grippo said.
“The focus on theory helped me to evaluate some of the ways in which I provide mentoring to others, and it also encouraged me to consider multiple perspectives to inform my mentoring framework. The focus on practical applications and resources has provided me with several options for incorporating new and revised ideas into my own mentoring strategies.”
Other Entering Mentoring participants were also enthused about the training.
“I never had the opportunity to spend time thinking intentionally about mentoring other faculty, since most mentoring training focuses on our roles as mentors to undergraduate and graduate students,” Skuzinski said. “Entering Mentoring provided a safe space for thinking and conversing about faculty mentoring. I look forward to seeing how the training evolves.”
